YouTube video on the re-design of Kings Heath Market SquareJust uploaded my next YouTube video at http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=LPWKyTwFEpoThis deals with the present work to redesign Kings Heath Market Square at the corner of the High Street and Vicarage Road.

We have two officers presently working on the design, although we do not at this stage have the finance to implement the design. Identifying the pot of money to implement the proposal will take 18months to 2 years. In the meantime we want to get an agreed design fully costed up.

The video explains the basic principles we are using in the re-design which are:1) remove as much clutter from the Market Square - namely move the toilets and telephone boxes across the road. Keep street furniture to a minimum.2) keep the layout simple - based very much on the Moseley Village Green design with railings around the edge3) re-use the present historic features in the square - namely the original Edwardian railings and ornate lamp stand.

This survey will be used as part of a Scrutiny Review of the Council's strategy to reducing graffiti in the city. I'm heading up this review and is expected to report back to the Council with its findings and recommendations in January.

Wednesday, September 26, 2007

Councillor Martin Mullaney, Moseley and Kings Heath Ward, is urging members of the public to object to a planning application where the owner of a historic Moseley building is seeking retrospective permission for gutting the interior of the building.

The grade II statutory listed building is the former tram depot offices at 582 Moseley Road, Moseley.

The owner has recently removed all the original walls, ground floor plate and half the first floor plate. He has installed a new concrete ground floor 1metre below the original level of the ground floor. Visitors will therefore step down into the ground floor when visiting the building.

The statutory listing of the building protects the interior of the building, but the owner has the right to seek retrospective planning permission. If planning permission is refused, the Council can make the owner put the building back to how it originally was.

In the planning application, the owner is seeking retrospective permission to install the ground floor 1 metre below the original level; remove the first floor completely and install a new floor 30centimetres higher than the original first floor. The owner then wants to install a new floor in between the ground and 1st floor – this floor plate would cut across the middle of the ground floor windows and be seen from the outside.

This video was subsequently used by the Council to force the owner to start work on the building again. The Standards Boards are presently investigating Councillor Mullaney for producing the video, since they claim it’s production showed disrespect to the owner of the building and brought the office of Councillor into dispute. Councillor Mullaney is denying any Code of Conduct was broken and that the production of the video was in the public interest – the investigation is on going.

Below is the update from the North Moseley re-employment project. Since last time, contact has been made with Hamza mosque and Woodstock Road girls school is now going to be used for a jobs fair during the October half-term

20th September 2007

Street Advisors Employment Project Update Report

Enterprising Communities: Kings Heath and Moseley Ward

Background

ResourcesAfter a July and August with team members of extended leave we are back to a full staff compliment of four part time and 2 full time Advisors. The progress in this report should be taken in the context that we were half staffed for almost 2 months.

Our ability to utilise the information we collect to the best possible benefit has however been increased by the addition in March of a bespoke Skills and Employment Database from Hanlon Skills Software, which has been fully operational since the middle of May. This software allows us to capture a detailed picture of clients’ aspirations, experiences and skills as well as our interventions with them. It also allows us to run searches on the vacancies our Employment Link Officers have been capturing from local businesses (over 250 the date of the report).

Activity

Client supportEach Advisor now has a case load of over 125 active clients across the Enterprising Communities area. All of our team members have at least three Moseley and Kings Heath clients although the majority of the 123 clients engaged with are managed by Marianne Salmons, Sahra Mahamud, Roshan Singh and Liaqat Iqbal. As part of our management systems we have coded clients as Red, Amber or Green as a way to ensure we are signposting and supporting them appropriately.

Green: a client who is ready for employment: They have an up- to-date CV, have discussed job aspirations and are equipped with support to be notified of suitable vacancies to which they can apply themselves or be supported to do so.

Amber: a client who needs some support in up-skilling or who needs their confidence building and support building up a better awareness of the job market they wish to follow.

Red: a client who is some way from being job ready who are in need of basic skills support, most likely ESOL and communication needs are high. A client who is unlikely to have worked in the UK at all or who has been out of the labour market for a considerable time due to ill health or caring responsibilities.

Of the 123 clients for Kings Heath and Moseley the following are currently classified as:

This caseload has improved over the last three months and demonstrates the work that has been done by the team to bring their clients into a situation where they are job ready. This has mainly been done by hosting CV and Job search workshops and by spending time with individual clients building their confidence and experience base.

Outreach work

18th July 2007 – Jobs Fair at Moseley Community Development Trust.This was a well attended session to which 35 people attended, 23 from the Moseley and Kings Heath Ward. Results for the Community Apprenticeships for clients in Moseley and Kings Heath can be seen at the end of the report.

9th August 2007 - Health and Social Care Event – Beittec Small Heath.This was the first of a number of tailored events which we are running until December 2007 as part of the funding we have secured from the Central Thematic NRF fund. To respond to the requests from clients who wanted to find out more about working and training in the Care Sector. Exhibitors included Building Heath, Care UK, Somali Care Agency – Horizons, My Time, BVSC – Volunteering Project and ACTIVATE. Information and guidance was also on hand from Street Advisors to sign-post people to further Education courses. We advertised extensively though our partner organisations and to residents in North Moseley, Sparkhill, Sparkhill and Small Heath. In total the morning event attracted 31 attendees from across the South Birmingham area, including 4 from North Moseley. The feedback from attendees and Exhibitors were extremely positive and so far we have 5 people into jobs, 1 person into volunteering and 2 people enrolled onto NVQ level 2 courses as a result of the event.

We are in the process of writing a Plain English Guide to Working in the Health and Social Sector to give out to clients and other employment projects. We will be translating main sections into Urdu, Somali and French and running a print according to demand from the community.

Future Events

Graduate Fair at the Muath Trust on 24th October 2007This event is aimed at recent and soon to be graduates and will include graduate employers from Birmingham and the West Midlands as well as National Employers from the Retail, Banking, Intelligence, IT, Accountancy, Armed Services and Engineering Sector. We also hope to have Exhibitors as CARA and Path WM attending who can provide support for Refugee Academics.

Raising Awareness and Community LinksNew marketing materials have been printed and are bow being distributed across the ward. During July and August they have been personally distributed by Advisors to:

Balsall Heath library

Balsall Heath Post Office

Moseley Post Office

Moseley CDT

Hamza Mosque

Subway

Muslim Students House (Moseley Rd)

Sage Food Store

New Agents St Marys Row

Mojams

Unique Tech Church Rd

Post Office Church Rd

Community and Inter Agency Links

Hamza Mosque and Islamic Centre 88-90 Church Road MoseleyA meeting facilitated by Muna Masood, Ward Support Officer for Hall Green Constituency took place on the 15th August 2007 to discuss engagement with the Mosque and immediate community in North Moseley. Mohammed Talib from Sparkhill Cultural Centre who is a member of the Hamza Mosque agreed that Saifer Reiman from the Mosque Committee and a colleague from the Youth Service would both be excellent initial contacts for the Community. He has recently been in talks with both of his colleagues and we have arranged a meeting to take place in the middle of October 2007. It is hoped that an initial event/consultation will happen at Woodstock Girls School which is linked to the Mosque in October half term where local residents are invited to come along to chat informally to Street Advisors who will be supported by the Mosque Committee and other community workers. Types of employment, barriers to finding work and the most appropriate forms and delivery of support will be explored at the event. From this a response will be specifically for the needs of the people in this area.

Kings Heath Job CentreAs many clients in the ward will be under Kings Heath (Institute Road) Job Centre we have given staff there our details and made links with the Lone Parents Advisor there. We are supporting three existing female clients from the streets at the bottom of Trafalgar Rd who are experiencing a certain level of stress in terms of the new obligations around claiming benefits and looking for work. Marianne and Sahra have held two 3 hours sessions at SBC College Womens Academy in Balsall Heath on 27th July to provide some time with these ladies to build their confidence and job search skills.

Table 3 Outputs as of 20th September 2007 in Kings Heath and Moseley Ward

Target 2006/2007Achieved 31st March 2007Achieved 3rd July 2007Achieved 2nd August 2007Achieved 20th September 2007People Engaged10077101114123Customised Training or Education407152124Full Time, Part Time and Self Employment3012141922Referrals and Other Activity019425256

Table 4 Community Apprenticeships progress for clients in Kings Heath and Moseley Ward

Lone parents (with children under the age of 16 years)20th September 2007Male

1Female11

Clients who state they have a disability20th September 2997Male

12Female4

Case Study A (Moseley and Kings Heath Client)

RH is male and aged 46 from Albania. RH made a self-referral by phoning up the office to make an appointment. He had picked up an Enterprising Communities leaflet from a local business in Moseley. An Advisor arranged to meet RH at the Afro British Association offices in Sparkbrook to meet with him and register in April 2007.

The client was unemployed at that time having lived in the UK for 5 years and only being able to pick up casual work. The client previously worked as a Plumber before moving to the U.K, but had no certificates or experience in employment in this country. The client asked for support with researching and applying for jobs in and around the field of plumbing.

As well as job searches, a number of practical training courses were sourced. One of these courses was a 5 day Plumbing course with Training 4 Skills. RH was assisted in completing an application for the course and was accompanied to register with the organisation in Erdington.

Outcome

RH completed the course successfully and has now applied to Building Health to complete his CSCS course to allow him to work officially on Building sites. A Street Advisor is in touch with him every two weeks to chart his progress and will support him to apply for jobs as soon as his CSCS registration is completed.

HM is female and aged 43. HM accessed the Street Advisors drop in services in Kings Heath library in April 2007 after seeing a leaflet advertising the service during a visit to the library with her children.

HM is a single parent with 3 children under the age of 11 years old. She has been out of work for 12 years due to her caring responsibilities. HM’s previous experience was as a Manager with the Benefits agency. Being out of work for so long had left HM lacking confidence in her skills and abilities and this was evident in the meetings with our Street Advisor.

The client was looking for something similar to the work she was doing before her career break, but something that could fit in with daily caring commitments.

Outcome

HM was referred to Pertemps Lone Parents project in Sparkhill, which worked very well for her. She completed the course and said it helped her to get out of the house and build her confidence. It has also helped her with her personal development in terms of motivation. She now feels better about herself and would now like to enroll on another course or placement in a public sector organisation through ACTIVATE to update her skills and confidence before looking for a suitable job.